Cease to follow those who are
actuated by self-interest, or by blind impulse; who do not care a bit if
they get you into trouble, provided only they serve their own selfish
ends. Such men are but blind leaders of the blind, and if you follow
them you will eventually find yourselves deserted, and lying hopelessly
and helplessly in the last ditch."
It was of no use. The men's wages went up twenty per cent.; and there
was an end of the bonuses. The coal famine continued. The masters,
instead of making profits, made immense losses. The price of iron went
down. The mills stood idle for two months. The result was, that when the
masters next met the workmen in public meeting, Mr. Waterhouse, the
auditor, reported that "while the gross earnings of the year have
exceeded the expenditure on materials, wages, and trade charges, they
have been insufficient to cover the full amounts to be provided under
the co-operative scheme for interest on capital, depreciation, and the
reserve for bad debts; and that consequently it was his duty to declare
that no amount was at present payable as bonus either to employers or
employed." No further report was issued in 1875, excepting an
announcement that there was no dividend, and that the firm did not
intend to continue the co-operative scheme any longer. During the time
that it lasted, the _employes_ had received about eight thousand pounds
in bonuses.
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